


Through Glass

by evilgiraff



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-04
Updated: 2012-11-04
Packaged: 2017-11-17 23:17:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/554277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilgiraff/pseuds/evilgiraff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This owes more than a casual nod to the fantastic film <i>The Prestige</i>. Bones is trapped.  A comment!fic inspired by photos posted at the LJ community jim_and_bones.</p>
<p>This might be upsetting to those of a nervous disposition. I wouldn't call it dark!fic, but others might.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Through Glass

He's tired, so tired. Leonard has been treading water for hours, peering through the gloom, trying to see if there is anyone in the small room on the other side of the thick glass of his prison. His arms are splayed out to the sides, pushing down on the water, doing all he can to hold himself up. His legs are almost spent, now only managing to kick feebly whenever his nose dips down under the surface of the water.

When he was first dropped into the tank, he'd wasted valuable energy trying to get high enough out of the water to dislodge the lid. It, like the rest of the tank, is heavy glass and completely resistant to his scrabbling. He'd tried anything and everything he could think of, from holding his breath and pushing off the bottom of the tank, going high out of the water but nowhere near high enough to do more than scrape his fingernails for a few too-brief seconds. Those same nails are broken and bleeding, torn off as Leonard picked fruitlessly at the sealant between the panels of the tank and then scratched at the panels themselves.

Thin ribbons of blood stream behind his fingers, twisting and diffusing into the water. When the overhead light comes on with an intensity that seems inappropriate to the small room, the blood trails disappear as Leonard thrashes in surprise. It's a move that throws him under the water, but even then he can see a familiar golden shape through the glass, one that spurs him to make a superhuman effort to get back up to the air. It takes a long time to get enough air to breathe without sucking water into his mouth as well, and as soon as he has any spare, he wastes it.

“Jim, please!” Leonard's voice is high-pitched, echoing in the confined space and ringing through his ears.

He can't hear anything from outside his tank, just sees that beloved mouth moving, and hands hammering at the glass from the other side. Leonard's arms have given up the fight to stay afloat, and his head lolls back, resting briefly on the surface before slipping under. As the water closes over his face his legs twitch once, enough to roll him over but there's nowhere near enough power to prevent the slow decline. Blood ribbons curl upward as broken fingers sink down.

Dull thuds accompany Leonard's downward journey, and carry on even after he settles in a graceless heap at the bottom of the tank. He sways in time with the rhythmic thudding, hair dancing like the tentacles of a sea anemone, waving cheerfully as if it's waited for years for this moment.

It seems like a long time before the thuds become a drawn-out splintering scream and water gushes over the floor.


End file.
